Apparently Unaffected
by Ms. Smiley
Summary: This story is about Kaitlin Cooper and her life. She get's shipped off to boarding school and we get a chance to see what this tough, mysterious girl is about through drama, romance and humor. Please read and review!
1. Nevermind Me

**Chapter 1 – Nevermind me**

This façade that I'm stuck with

_Has got me wondering _

_Just tell me how you want me _

_And I'll be there naked stumbling _

_Just to get a reaction, _

_Any signs of love. _

_Nevermind nevermind me, _

_I'll just catch shadows on your walls. _

_Nevermind me, nevermind me, _

_Oh my God I feel so small. _

_Nevermind me, nevermind me, _

_I'll let me self out..._

The bright sun sent golden sunbeams that escaped through the window and lightened up the pink bedroom. The air in the room was getting heavy and warm as it was getting close to noon. It was getting harder to stay asleep and a couple of light brown hair streaks were dancing on the pillow as the girl in the bed was tossing and turning.

Suddenly she was brutally interrupted in her dream by some loud voices far away. She turned around, closing her eyes harder as she tried to block the voices out and go back to her sleep and continue her dream. Unfortunately the voices only became louder and clearer, making it impossible for her to turn around and continue her dream. She couldn't help but to listen to the conversation and was dragged out of her sleep for real when she realized the discussion down stairs was about her. She sat slowly up in her bed, concentrating to hear all the words that were being said. She gently put the covers aside and carefully got up from the bed and tiptoed over to the window and opened it fully, letting even warmer air hit her. She quickly closed the window again and tiptoed gently to her door and slightly opened it, so that she could hear the conversation better. The voice of her mother, Julie Cooper, was now filling the house and she could hear that her father, Jimmy Cooper, was trying to break in.

"_Can't you see that it would be for the best with everything that's going on now? It would be the best for everyone if Kaitlin went back to boarding school now until everything has calmed down. I don't want her to worry."_

Julie stopped and sighed for a moment and Jimmy immediately took the opportunity to break in.

"_Jules I'm not so sure if getting shipped away to boarding school is what she needs right now. Just…"_

And that was all he got to say before Julie sent him an icy and sarcastic look, telling him to step carefully. How did he even dare to think he knew what would be best for their daughter when he hadn't even seen her the past year? How could he know what would be best for Kaitlin when he had been gone in Hawaii and not being there for her like she had? Well okay now Julie herself would be the first to admit that Jimmy had always been a good father for their two daughters and that she herself hadn't always been there for them either, but that wasn't really the point now. The point was what would be the best for Kaitlin and this time Julie knew she was right and she had no intention of losing this battle.

"_Oh so now you know what she needs? And beside who are you to talk Jimmy? Running off to Hawaii and leaving your daughters behind… What a great move…It's almost as great as being with that skanky sister of Kiki huh?"_

Jimmy rolled his eyes feeling the anger rise in him as he tightened his fists. Julie seemed to know exactly the right buttons to push. Surprisingly he managed to calm down and almost let the remark slide and focus on the actual matter they where discussing. But only almost. The sarcasm was dripping in his voice for a moment before he sighed and focused back to the case again.

"_Yeah almost as great as marrying her father for the money Jules… And I don't know if we should send her back to the boarding school right now… I think she needs to stay here with Marissa and you where she has a home."_

Julie froze for a moment and looked embarrassed away avoiding Jimmy's eyes as he pushed her buttons back. The comment about Caleb hit a sore spot. She quickly got her act together and brushed by her jeans and replied bitterly.

"_Well that just happen to be the case that we from next week won't have this house to call home, but a trailer, if you ever could consider to call a trailer a home... Believe me Jimmy, a trailer park isn't exactly where you want to bring your friends home with you after school. Or go home to after school at all."_

Jimmy shrugged and ran his fingers through his short hair as he looked back at Julie. He was so tired of fighting with her. Okay so he knew that he probably shouldn't have left like he did, but what else could he do? In Hawaii he had gotten a brilliant opportunity to start over and get back on track. His life was good again. The only thing that got in the way for his happiness was that he didn't get to be in his daughter's life as much as he wanted to. And a part of him was also missing Julie in a strange way. It wasn't that he wanted to get back together with her, but it was just that they had shared so much and after all she had been his wife for almost 18 years and she was the mother to his children. And nobody take those years away from them, no matter how much they could fight or disagree now. Julie might not be a candidate for the Nobel's Peace Prize or the prize for best mom, but she did her best and what she thought was the best for her family and herself. Mostly for what would be the best for herself though, but still she only meant good. Deep down underneath the botox, the lip-gloss and the designer clothes and the Newpsie shallowness, Julie was a good person. She only had a somewhat strange way of showing it sometimes.

"_Look Jules, let's not fight again huh? Let's just talk this over like adults and think about what's best for Kaitlin okay?"_

Julie nodded understandingly and had to admit that he was perfectly right. This wasn't about them, but their youngest daughter and what would be best for her.

"_Well then unless you have any better ideas I suggest that Kaitlin should go back to her boarding school a little bit earlier than planned. She has such good friends there and she can do almost anything she wants to there. I mean come on why wouldn't she wanna go? She can even bring that pony we bought her! Japan, Asia or China or whatever."_

As Jimmy opened his mouth to answer Julie when he heard steps down the stairs and looked up to see Kaitlin on her way down to them.

Her face was stiff and she had put on her typically expressionless mask to hide her feelings. Nobody would care anyway, her opinion wasn't really important. She had heard most of their conversation and didn't plan on hiding it. She instantly set her eyes on her parents confronting them with what she had heard, stating the obvious.

"_So you're shipping back to boarding school again huh?"_

She looked at her father for a moment before she let her eyes wander over to Julie looking her in her eyes. Kaitlin's face might have been cleared for her reaction to being shipped off like again like a unwanted pet, but her voice had a icy undertone and almost revealed that she was feeling a bit hurt. She crossed her arms looking back and forth at her parents, waiting for their explanations as they looked at each other searching for the right words. Kaitlin sighed and tapped her foot impatiently not bothering to wait for their long answer.

"_So when am I leaving? Well you know what just never mind me; I'll just go and start packing my things. Oh and by the way mom, it's China. My pony's name is China…"_

And with that Kaitlin turned around and walked back up the stairs, heading for her room, leaving Jimmy and Julie to there selves again.

"_Yeah just nevermind me, yeah nevermind me at all…"_


	2. Here I Am

** Chapter 2 – Here I Am **

_"But where were you when I was scared_  
_A broken promise left me here  
A post-it note is what I've got _

So  
Here I am yeah  
Here I am"

She sank back into the car seat and sighed as she glanced out of the window as the cab was driving into some familiar streets. Here she was again. She wasn't really excited about it, even though it meant that she could leave all the trouble and drama from home behind. Every time something started to get difficult at home she just got shipped away to her boarding school by her mom, like she was some kind of pet they couldn't take care of right then. Her mother hadn't even bothered to ask her how she felt about going back. No, she had simply told her to pack her things and be ready the next day. Well not that it really mattered what she felt, she was always the last in line anyway. But that was home and not here. Here she was the girl everybody wanted to be. And her friends were just like her, born into a life many people only dreamed about.

The cabdriver got out of the car and opened the trunk and started to pull out her entire luggage consisting of nothing less then 4 Louis Vuitton suitcases and three large bags. All in matching colours and clearly newly bought. And highly expensive of course.

Kaitlin couldn't care less though, but that was a thing she would never ever admit. Hell why should she, she was being shipped off like an unwanted pet, so the least she could do was to make her parents pay for it, in a literally way.

She glanced out of the car window wondering how long it would take before the cops were after her if she jumped into the front seat of the car and drove down to Mexico. Her parents were so busy dealing with themselves and fixing their reputation that she probably could get to the boarder before some noticed. But she knew that it wouldn't work out very well and her only choice was to step out, put on her brightest smile and try to make the best of it. Here she could at least be Kaitlin Cooper instead of Marissa Coopers' sister or the other step-daughter of Caleb Nichol.

Kaitlin sighed deeply as she opened the car door and got out. She put on her oversized Chanel sun glasses as she let her eyes glace over the scenery that met her. The overwhelming buildings, parks and palms were pretty, yet it didn't feel warm and welcoming. Teenagers dressed in the latest fashion were busy chatting and clinging in groups.Kaitlin eyed at a couple of hot guys who gave her a whistle and a coy smile formed on her lips. Hey maybe it wouldn't be _that_ bad after all.

"_Kaitlin! Hey! Finally you're here!" _

A cute young brunette teenage girl wearing a fancy school uniform came running towards her and gave her a big hug.

"_Oh my God is that a new Louis Vuitton bag? It's absolutely gorgeous. I almost bought the exact same one last week, but then I found this other and… Oh nevermind I got some big juicy gossip for you! You remember Dana right? She got… "_

As the brunette rambled on, the cab driver helped to get her luggage inside. Kaitlin couldn't help but to smile at her friend Tina, who managed to catch her up with all the most important gossip in within 2 minutes. Tina was the one who everything about anyone and if it was something Tina didn't know, it simply wasn't worth knowing.

A couple of minutes later the girls were settled in Kaitlin's room, with Tina sitting in Kaitlin's bed while Kaitlin started to unpack and hang her clothes to her large closet.

"_Hey Kait, your bringing China with you right?"_ Tina was talking about Kaitlin's cute brown and white pinto coloured pony, which she had gotten for her 10th birthday of her parents. Kaitlin had never really been anywhere near a horse before her dad Jimmy had taken her to see a circus once and there they of course had had cute white ponies and after seeing the circus princess ride on the white horses, Kaitlin surely had to have a horse too. But when she got China, a brown and white spotted pony instead of a white thoroughbred horse, hell nearly broke loose and Kaitlin refused to set her foot in the stable again until Jimmy threatened to sell China to Kaitlin's cousin, Claire.

Kaitlin could feel the embarrassment crawl up on her back and almost letting her face turn red when she thought about that and how bad she had behaved. She looked back at Tina and nodded.

"_You know they have totally changed the stable now and a bunch of new people are there now. The guys from The Elite Athlete High also have their horses there now… And those guys are definitely what you can call hot! They alone are worth a visit down in the stable. And not to talk about that new stable guy they hired. Wow! I'm mean it's like so obvie that he is from Chino or a place like that, which is like totally turn-off, but whatever, I gotta admit that my eyes doesn't exactly hurt when I look at him…__But anyway my point was actually that since you're back we could enter some competitions and maybe even beat the hell out of those smug whores from Pasadena in the state championship. "_

Kaitlin smiled but looked firmly at her best friend. She had only been back for what, like ten minutes and Tina was already making plans for her and was getting way head of her self. Typical Tina though. She had to stop her before she went too far. She laughed at Tina and shook her head.

"_Okay okay! Hold it!"_

She looked at Tina and let out a short laugh before she sent her an apologetic smile.

"_Don't get too excited okay Tina? You know that I don't ride anymore. I haven't even been near a pony or a stable for years now… Actually I never really cared about it. I just brought China with me to keep mom and dad off my back. And the guys from The Elite High are just soo last summer. Been there, done that…"_

Tina's jaw dropped a little, shocked and impressed over the information. She giggled and got off the bed.

"_Oh my gosh! Way to go girl. But you know, just don't brag about it, because Dana is jealous of you enough already. I don't know why, but if you see her, don't expect her to give a welcome back party. She hates you for some reason and she started all this rumours about why you left last time and why you came back now. And you know how a lot of the others listen to her so… Well just don't let it get to you."_

Tina's cell phone interrupted them and suddenly she was in a hurry. She jumped off the bed and paced over to Kaitlin and hugged her again as she smiled.

"_It's good to have you back Bitch."_

And with that she exited and left Kaitlin to her self again. Kaitlin looked after her as she disappeared down the hall way. She closed the door and ducked into her suitcase again, packing up her clothes. As she reached out to pick her black Mark Jacobs jeans, her fingers stumbled on a piece of paper. It was a yellow post it-note from her mother. She picked it up and sat down on her bed to read it.

"_Kaitlin dearling,_

_I'm sorry that you had to leave in a hurry, but I hope you enjoy boarding school and have fun with your friends. Know that I miss you Sweetie. _

_Love Mom"_

Yeah right, like she was sorry, but whatever, here she was again and after the talk with Tina, Kaitlin had a feeling that trouble wouldn't be left behind in Newport, but follow her.

* * *


End file.
